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       KULLAKA, JILATA
       YANAPTAWIMA MUNTAPJJTA

    SISTER, BROTHER
    WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT

OUR SURVIVAL IN THE 21st CENTURY

We are Native Americans who cannot survive without the support and assistance of fellow human beings.
Monetarily we live as the poorest of the poor in the most impoverished and corrupt country in the
Americas. Culturally, however, we are the wealthiest of the most affluent. We are the originals, the
guardians of the earth and we have kept that standing since your ancestors and ours were the same.
Perhaps a third of the adult members of our organization have no (zero) annual income. The majority
of the rest average far less than the national average of about U.S. 725.00 a year. Our Mother Earth,
Pachamama, has provided for our needs for uncounted generations. Unfortunately, she does not
provide for government taxes, the modern education of our children or myriad other costs encountered
in the 21st century.

Recently, many of us have been forced to move to Bolivian cities for the sake of our sons and daughters.
We live in the poorest barios and have found only the least rewarding jobs. We have witnessed our
neighbors' daughters become prostitutes and their sons thieves. Families suffering and crying and
wishing they could live free again to enjoy the beautiful cultures within which they were born. We don't
want to follow the trail of tears that our northern sisters and brothers endured over a hundred years ago.
All of us, the young included, would prefer to live on our own land, practice our own customs and die in
our own homes. Although we are over 200 strong, only three of us have telephones for use in the city and
two of those were just lately acquired through donation. None of us owns or has private access to a motor
vehicle. The only way to compete against the complete loss of our traditions is to enter monetary markets
and share with you who have an interest in indigenous ways. We have a magnificent plan for rescuing our
traditions, preserving our culture and improving our lives. We believe that by sharing our hearts and
ourselves with you, that plan will come to fruition and our glorious earth and all who share her will benefit.

 

OUR ADVISORY TEAM AND YOU

We are fortunate to work with a single volunteer foreign advisor whom we call "Ch'amanchiri," or "he who
gives force." Our brother Ch'amanchiri lives with us daily and labors with an all-too-small group of
assistants. We need to expand our team of assistants and would appreciate hearing from any semi-
responsible adult who has a heart-felt inclination towards our cause. We offer you the experience of a
lifetime...to help fellow sisters and brothers and at the same time help to save our Mother Earth. We are
especially interested in meeting researchers in the fields of art history, linguistics, ethnography, ecology,
ornithology, entomology, ichthyology, and geology. In addition, we would greatly appreciate
communicating with publishers, filmmakers, photographers and writers. We want to work with someone
who has experience in managing tours or resorts. If you "surf" the Web, we need volunteers to help us
create links with other Websites. We desire to have some of our children learn English and need to secure
a scholarship to send at least one to a foreign university. We need intelligent, adventurous teachers who
will live with us on the campo and to whom we promise to teach as much as they teach.
   

A PROPOSAL FOR CULTURAL EXCHANGE

Our communities are not "civilized." We have no motorized vehicles, running water, bathrooms, outhouses,
electricity, radios, telephones, gasoline, diesel, butane, solar panels, batteries, McDonald's, etc. Entering
one of our traditional homes you would feel as if you had walked back in time 500 years or more. We cook
in handmade ceramic pots, eat from hand-carved wooden dishes, sit on sheep skins, sleep on llama skins
and tell the funniest jokes. This does not mean that we are ignorant of technology or modern ways...we
simply prefer to live outside of the "civilized" world. Many of our people have never entered an automobile
or even seen city lights. Only one has ever been on a plane and visited another country. Imagine, practically
none of our children have ever visited a movie theatre or been to a concert or a circus or a carnival or eaten
pizza. For that matter, neither have the adults. We want to learn more about the world and experience what
the world has to offer without having to change who we are. In this light we are proposing a cultural
exchange with any museum, institution, society, business or interested group who would sponsor 10 to 20
individuals to travel from Bolivia to anywhere. We offer the following:

A professional exposition of the most complete and interesting display of Bolivian textiles known

Weaving exhibitions by master Indian artisans (among the very best in all of the Andes)

Traditional dances in traditional costumes from the campo

Traditional music with traditional instruments from the campo

Traditional woven textiles for sale or trade

Workshops including:

The making of traditional children's toys and playing games

Weaving llama ropes and slings and knitting Andean hats by men

Weaving bags, sashes and other small textiles by women

Spinning and plying of wool yarns including alpaca, llama and sheep

Preparation of certain (non-perishable) traditional foods such as chuño, oka, quinoa, etc.

Use of certain (legally importable) natural medicines

Traditional Andean spiritual ceremony

And, most importantly, Jacha Chuymanaka...Big Hearts

  

DONATIONS AND GIFTS

As a non-profit organization we gratefully accept cash donations. All (100%) monetary donations are placed
in an AKATAKSA fund and all (100%) are used to directly benefit our communities and our people. We
absolutely want to be self-sufficient and have a remarkable plan for doing so. Unfortunately, we lack some
necessities to start and would greatly appreciate any help that you could give us. The following items are
particularly needed:

Advertising for AKATAKSA in any media

A laptop computer

A bus, van, or 4-wheel drive vehicles for use in Bolivia

Any automobile for use in the United States when visiting

Solar energy panels

Audiovisual equipment...especially a professional camcorder and an editing recorder (such as the Sony DSR
Series in DVCAM format)

A radio communication system capable of transmitting at least 100 miles

Hand-held Dictaphone recorders for documenting information and stories by our elders

A Sony digital Mavica camera

Professional photography service for publication

Walkie-talkies

A gasoline or diesel pump capable of drawing water 300 meters through a 1 inch to 2 inches diameter tube.

Arial photography service in Bolivia

A photocopier machine

First aid kits

Zip drive disks

Four Mountain bicycles

Potential merchandise for eBay sales.